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User blog:Pantaloods/Historical Comparisons between the world of Xuyan
Good morning! Today, I want to talk a bit about a few of the historical accuracies (or inaccuracies) portrayed of the several Asian cultures in the World of Xuyan and how well they stack up to their real world counterparts! 'Xuyan' Real World Inspiration: China, Three Kingdoms Periodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_period 'Similarities' *Foot-binding, as seen in Court III. Noblewomen and, often, the eldest daughter of a household would have their feet bound from a young age in China during the Song Dyanstyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding. Small, bound 'lotus' feet were seen as very attractive and a sign of wealth. It was also considered a highly desirable trait for a future bride. Like seen in the game, the women had frequent pain, difficulty walking, and often had to be carried to and fro. *Military drafting, as seen in Court I and Court II. It's true that a great deal of historical wars required drafts to fill the ranks of their armies. Typically, the eldest man in a household or family would answer the call. However, his eldest son of age could often take his place in the draft. *The Emperor of China was very often referred to or symbolized with the dragon, while an Emperess would often be portrayed with a feng-huang, the Chinese phoenix. *Festivals and holidays were, and remain, a very important part of Chinese culture. There really is a festival called the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, which is focused around sating the spirits of the dead who wander the earth for the day by offering gifts. *The geographical map of Xuyan is loosely based upon the map of an amalgamation of the real-world maps China and India. *The god of death was known as King Yama, based upon the Hindu tale of the first man to live--and thus the first man to die. He decided the 'Differences' *Rights and statuses of women. As is the case for almost every culture on Earth, women in the real world had little-to-no political power and certainly were not allowed to join the military. That doesn't mean there weren't countless cases of women disguising themselves as men to fight, however! *There was a much greater level of mysticism in Ancient China, while it is rather downplayed in Xuyan. 'Basho' Real World Inspiration: Japan, Edo/Tokugawa Periodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period 'Similarities' *It really was led by a Shogun, who led several regional Daimyo under him. As seen in Samurai no Shoujo, a Shogun was separate from the crown and often usurped a great deal of power from the sitting monarch, who was typically little more than a figurehead. *Japan has a very extensive, sometimes violent, and overall complicated history with China, just as Basho does with Xuyan. Sometimes partners, sometimes enemies. A great deal of the relationship between the countries has been spelled out almost entirely by the history beween Japan and China. *Japan's history with Korea is even more complicated, but is mostly crystalized by the Japanese Occupation of Korea, starting in 1910. It is an exact parallel made with Basho and Minjog. *Japan was historically very biased against women, as most histoical cultures were. Notably, women weren't even allowed to play as women in theatre such as kabuki. *However, there were quite a few notable historical onna-bugeisha or female samurai warriors, such as Tomoe Gozenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen. There were also a few unverified legends of kunoichi, or female ninjas, although there are no histoical records indicating any actually existed---as it perhaps should be of ninjas. *Samurai were skilled warriors who swore themselves to the service of a master. Failure to protect or serve one's master was often 'Differences' *Ninjas didn't have any sort of special uniforms or conduct. They often wore whatever was convenient to blend in unnoticed. The arhcetypal black-clad ninjas from pop culture were actually the costumes worn by stagehands who had to skit by in the background of the stage during a kabuki play. With the lights dimmed, their black clothes were unnoticable against the darkend stage---a perfect way for a ninja to stike unseen. This was only but one instance, however. Most ninjas did not usually dress this way. *Historically, clans were not bunched together without traveling. In fact, traveling was extremely common for agrarian workers, merchants and tradesmen. *Basho is a land-locked country, whereas Japan is an island nation. As a result, Basho does not share the oceanic influences of its inspiration; these aspects were given to Minjog instead. 'Khun' Real World Inspiraiton: Mongolia, Mongol Empirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_Empire 'Similaries' *The Mongols and the Russians had some....interesting interactions. A few notable examples include the raids against Kievan Rus and Batu Khan's eventual invasion of the region with his Golden Horde. These exchanges were often incredibly violent, bloody, and brual. *Like the Khun during the Imperial Xuyan and Ezlegdsen Khumuus periods, the Mongols were (and in some cases, are) under Chinese control, occupation, and/or both. *The Mongols really did fight by a Horde, under the leadership of a Khan---called a Khaan to the Khun. They also taught their boys how to ride horseback and shoot an arrow, at ages as young as only 3 years old. *Due to their vast and varied geneology, some Mongols really did (and still do) have red hair. This was the case with Ulaan Malgai, and many others. *Every year, the Khun have the Great Nerge. This was practically the exact same thing as the Mongols. The nomadic hunters would round up the local wildlife for a mass slaughter, drying and preserving the meat to sustain them through the harsh winter where hunting would be difficult. *There really is a type of alchol called airag, or kumis, made from fermented mare's milk. Eating horse flesh was also quite common in Mongolia, and still exists today. Differences *The Khun were always nomadic, though they eventually settled Orgil Khot as their permanent capital. The Mongols did have a few permanent settlements, such as Ulanbaatar, but even today at least 13% of the population is still nomadic. The Khun, meanwhile, have established a few permanent settlements with the majority of their population (around 94%) remaining nomadic within their borders. *Though the Mongols would try to get every game animal in the region for the Great Nerge, the Khun closely monitor the animal population and make sure not to supercede it in order to allow the animal populations to replenish by the next year. 'Desa Kauma' Real World Inspiration: India, Medieval Regional Kingdomshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India 'Similaries' *Like Desa Kauma, India was made up of many separate regional kingdoms. There were many, each with different languages and cultures. Though united as a single country, these regional differences are still very prevalent today. *Desa Kauma has a high focus on trading and mercantilism, for which India is especially known. 'Differences' *Religion is quite simplified in Desa Kauma. Mostly, there's really only one big religion in the area; the Aastha, based off of Hinduism. *Desa Kauma borders Arazi and Basho, but India is nowehre near either Turkey or Japan. Turkey is more northwestern, near the Mediterranean, while Japan is a solitary island nation far in the Eastern Pacific. In real life, India is bordered by China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It also shares the Indian Ocean with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Thailand. 'Strana Imperiya' Real World Inspiraiton: Russia, Russian Empirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire 'Similaries' *As stated above, Russia and the Mongol Empire had a hostile relationship towards each other. However, Russia was ultimately able to outlast the Mongol Horde, a point that Strana also likes to take in stride. Though their modern day interactions are rather limited nowadays, the relationship is still quite sour between the Imperiyans and the Khun. *Strana has a very good working relationship with Basho, having never come into any conflicts despite their borders. During the Red Shogunate, Strana even contemplated helping Basho in their quest to militarily conquer Khumuus Vant, mostly out of their bitter past rivalry with the Khun. 'Differences' *Strana has had quite a noticable cultural impact on Minjog due to their close borders. There was a bit of influence from the USSR on North Korea's socialism, following the Korean War, but they were mostly limited to trade interactions. Minjog, meanwhile, has been influenced by Strana in every way from fashion to food to language. 'Arazi' Real World Inspiration: Turkey, Ottoman Empirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire 'Similaries' *Like Arazi and the Khun, Turkey had some interesting and complex relationships with the Mongols. There was a great level of coordination and cooperation between the two overall groups; the last Turko-Mongol Khanate lasted all the way until 1917! The Golden Horde was actually the direct predecessor to the Turkic clans which eventually gathered together over the centuries to eventually form the Ottoman Empire. *Like the Ottoman Empire, Arazi textiles and fabrics are renowned throughout the world for their legendary craftsmanship, similarly to Persian rugs. Furthermore, textiles are one of the main industries of Turkey today. 'Differences' *The Ottoman Empire was historically ruled by a Sultan, which is speicially a Muslim king. The leaders of Arazi were called Sultans prior to Court III, before this detail was known. Since then, the leaders of the country have been called the High Kral, meaning high priest in Turkish. Canonically, the reason for the change is the murder of the Sultan during Basho's Invasion of Sehir caused a power vaccuum, leading to the clegy stepping in. 'Minjog' Real World Inspiration: Korea, Japanese Occupationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Korea 'Similaries' *Like Minjog was occupied by Basho, Korea was occupied by Japan. The native culture and language were heavily resticted and even outlawed, forcing the Koreans to live how the Japanese wanted. Restricting and cruel rules were put into place to force the Koreans to obey the Japanese-imposed laws, with harsh consequences for those who broke them. *Like the Minjogi, the Koreans still chose to hold out to their own cultural mores and means in secret. One such notable example was the highly secretive process of passing the pracitces of taewondo down, despite it being highly illegal under the Japanese laws. *Like Korea, Minjog was freed from captivity by an outside force. And similarly, both were freed due to a peace treaty's consessions that their occupiers, the losers of the war, were forced to consign to. Basho was forced to free Minjog after they lost the war during the Red Shogunate. Meanwhile, Imperial Japan was made to free Korea in 1945 as a result of losing WWII. 'Differences' *The Japanese were very conscientious of race, seeing the Koreans as the lowest tier and prestigue, even seeing them as below the Ainu people of Hokkaido and Ryokyuan people of Okinowa. Interbreeding no doubt happened anyway, but absolutely nowhere near as often as the Basho-Minjogi relations. *The relations between the Koreans and the American soldiers in the Korean War more accurately parallels the nature of the frequent, forced relations the Minjogi women were subjected to. There were countless cases of groups of American soldiers sexually assulting Korean women who just happened to get caught up in the war, regardless of their affiliation. References Category:Blog posts